Publish date: 13 May 2026
North Tyneside Outpatients celebrate achieving the Gold Autism Acceptance Award
North Tyneside Outpatients has proudly achieved the Gold Autism Acceptance Award, recognising the team’s ongoing commitment to creating a more inclusive, accessible, and supportive experience for autistic and neurodivergent people.
Funded by Bright Northumbria and Culture of Care, the award celebrates organisations that go beyond intention and deliver meaningful, lasting improvements in accessibility and inclusion.
To achieve the Gold standard, staff across North Tyneside Outpatients worked closely with the Neurodiversity Staff Network, the experience team, and the North East Autism Society. Together, they focused on four key areas: building knowledge and understanding, improving practices, making environmental adjustments, and strengthening collaboration.
The achievement reflects the team’s dedication to Northumbria Healthcare’s values and its commitment to continually improving patient experience for everyone. It also sets a strong example for the future, with the ambition for all outpatient departments across Northumbria Healthcare to work towards achieving the Gold Autism Acceptance Award.
Jo Mackintosh, Chief Experience Officer said: “Achieving the Gold Autism Acceptance Award demonstrates the teams’ commitment to improving the experience of autistic and neurodivergent people who attend the North Tyneside outpatient department.
They have created a more welcoming and supportive environment for patients. This is a great example of how listening to patient experience and working collaboratively with people with lived experience and partners can make services more inclusive for everyone.”